Ranty Nurse Amy - Updated!!

Update: We reached the goal for Amy!!  Thanks to everyone who donated!!

I didn't realize what a horribly rough patch @RantyAmyCurtis is going thru. Her story popped up in my Twitter timeline, and I got myself involved in the conversation about it. It got a tad heated (not between Amy & me), I was behind a couple of really nice chocolate stouts, and thought to myself, "Self, we gotta do something about this."

Amy wants to get her marriage annulled, and the Church's ecclesiastical court fee to process it is $500.00, which she does not have.  That, plus other debt I know nothing about, have her in a tight bind.

Did I mention she is raising three boys?  By herself?? While she went to nursing school, graduated, passed her boards, and went on to qualify for a specialization as well.  All of this reminds me of Martha, and what she went through to adopt and raise me.  (Story here, if you're interested.)

So. I said to myself, "Self, I can stay online here and try to talk my ginger friend down."  That, as you might expect with a ginger,  didn't exactly happen, but it at least stopped. I knew that there was really nothing I could say to Amy that would make it all better, so what could I do? "Self, I said, let's go set up a gofundme for her. She can get the annulment, and have a life free from the ton of spiritual baggage of not having it."

So, I did.

From about midnight last night until just before I posted this, the fund is at $200.00.  Wouldn't it be great to have the $500.00 funded by tomorrow night? Once that happens, I'll ask her if she wants to continue to raise money to help w/ her debts or not.

So, click the link, and make a donation so Amy can freely get on with her life!

P.S. To my ginger friend:  I have a great deal of respect for you as a person of faith, a successful business woman, and as a person.  I have found that, without intending to, I manage to step on your toes from time to time. In our conversations, it is never my intention to cast things in concrete. Last night, all I was trying to do is describe what Amy is up against, not defend it to you. I am sorry that I didn't make that clear to you.  I can describe a bunch of things about the Church petty well, even though I disagree with some of them.

Again, I am sorry for the misunderstanding.

Green Poodles, Create!

My dear friend and 'land lady' has been running a web business for the last few years, under the name "Green Poodle Creations"("GPC"). She has lately gotten a burr under her proverbial saddle, and has a) done some major re-vamping, b) added several new product lines.

GPC is the umbrella organization, hosting the GPC Blog, the GPC Boutique, and the GPC Cookbook, all of which are linked on the side columns here.

Her craft work is folksy and funky, and definitely one-of-a-kind. I had some plain paper lampshades on my Amazon wish list, and found two of these on my front porch one day:

Way cuter, and way better than plain paper! I hope she adds something like these to her collection, soon.

She also has several coffee cup/mug designs that I love, too:

Stressed	Stages of Coffee
Stages of Coffee	Time Travel

All of this is "print on demand", meaning the mug (or t-shirt) is printed up when you order and pay for it.

Speaking of t-shirts...



Go visit, say "Hi", and tell 'em leelu sent you!!

BFTP*

*Blast From The Past!!

Got this from one of my Boeing co-workers:

From left to right, Rob, moi, and Chuck. This was taken no earlier than 2002. I know this because I bought that shirt for my 2002 trip to Costa Rica. It was taken at the BBC, which is local speak for the Belmont Brewing Company. We were on the back patio which overlooks the beach. 

Both Rob and I have lost weight since then. I haven't been in touch w/ Chuck for years, which is something I missed, but apparently not enough to do anything about until now. 

We spent more than one 'last day before Christmas break lunch' there,  watching the waves and the cute, bikini'd roller skaters on the bike path.

The BBC was the first brew pub I ever frequented, and is still my favorite!  It, and my friends, are some of the few things I miss about SoCal.

Brain Cancer Killed This Blog

I was tidying up a bit, cleaning out the MIA list, when I noticed that Kate had updated her old blog.  The title struck me as odd.  Then I read the post.

Fuck.

Consider this a "bleg".  Kate is truly good people, and needs help.  I Cannot. Imagine.

 And, RTWT:

 August 1st, 2014

Brain Cancer Killed This Blog

by Venomous Kate

When I started ElectricVenom.com back in 2003, my son was a toddler and my husband was an active duty soldier in the U.S. Army who was gone a lot. A lot. Then we relocated to a rural area in Hawaii — which isn’t nearly as pleasant as you’d think — and he was gone even more. There were times when two, sometimes three weeks would pass and I hadn’t spoken with anyone over the age of three.

I’ve often said this blog saved my life back then, because it put me in contact with people all over the world and gave me a reason to think. Now, I’m hoping this blog can help save my husband’s life, or at least make what’s left of it a little bit better.
You see, about a month after my last post — on July 12, 2012 to be specific — we learned that my husband has brain cancer. At the time, his tumor was considered slow-growing and following surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and he was expected to have a very good shot at living a normal lifespan.

Earlier this week, we learned that his tumors (he has two now) have progressed to glioblastoma, which has a median survival rate 14 or so months. Since he’d had an MRI in May which showed the tumors being in check, the growth between then and his July MRI indicates the clock started ticking in the past month or two.

Frankly, we’re terrified. We’re also in need of your help. Although Mike has been working throughout his various treatments, he is no longer able to do so. His cognitive and speech skills are rapidly declining, and he is physically exhausted from nearly 18 straight months of daily chemotherapy.

Although his boss did everything he could to keep Mike on, his condition is such that he just can’t keep working. As I type this, Mike’s resignation letter is sitting on in his office, awaiting his signature.

But Mike is worried about retiring. It’s not just that he’s a workaholic, though he is (and that fact is responsible for about 70% of this blog’s content, come to think of it). He’s also afraid of what’s going to happen to our family financially once he’s no longer bringing home a paycheck.
See, Social Security Disability will take a few months to kick in, as will his Federal medical retirement pay. Until then, we’re broke. Flat. Broke. (Having a daughter who only just graduated college and a now-teenaged son who’s in braces and band will do that to a family.)
So we’re raising funds to help Mike complete his Bucket List in the time he has remaining, and to hopefully cover some of the gap between his last day of work and his first day of disability payments.

If you can, please contribute. It doesn’t have to be big — even $3 would be great! And, if you can’t contribute, then please know as we do that prayer is the most valuable form of currency there is. We could sure use some.

•To read more of Mike’s story, or to contribute to his fundraiser, please visit his GoFundMe.com campaign here.
•To follow Mike’s progress, please “Like” his Facebook page: Mike Berry’s Brain Cancer Battle.

Thank you,
Not so “Venomous” anymore Kate

Mmmmmm, Could Be...!! (Updated)

This is probably not exactly true (he is speculating, after all), but it sure sounds plausible!

Head fake! Is Healthcare.gov only an

empty shell MOCKUP of a working

Obamacare exchange?

Wednesday, October 09, 2013
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)
Tags: Obamacare exchanges, programming failure, mockup

(NaturalNews) As the days of glitches, snafus, down-time and critical errors mount up, evidence is mounting that the Healthcare.gov Obamacare exchange is not actually a fully-formed online application. More and more, it appears to be a mockup of a health care exchange enrollment system.

Go.  RTWT!!

(Via Mr. Taranto)

Update:  Added the "giggle du jour" tag so you all know that I'm not taking this article seriously.  You'll understand if you read the first few comments.  And, "The Health Ranger"?  Too cute...

Dakota Has Passed On

Koda (as he was affectionately known), went into convulsions at about 2:30 this afternoon.  I took him to the 24-hour emergency vet, after trying a few first aid things at home.  They pumped him full of valium, which reduced the convulsions to mild tremors.

The vet was straight up with the prognosis - based on what the expensive tests that I can't afford might tell us, she was not optimistic that he could go home and be OK.  So, I made the decision to let him go.

He passed peacefully.  The med they use anesthetised him immediately, and continued on to an overdose.  He slipped away in less than a minute.

Pax vobiscum, Koda.

Dakota (Updated)

Tuesday, Dakota took a pretty good tumble down a full flight of stairs, spine first.  Nothing was broken, but I noticed yesterday that he seemed to have lost balance and strength on his left side.

Last night, he went into full-body convulsions for a minute or so. 

We are off to the vet at 3:30.  Koda is resting on the air mattress down here on the first floor.

I don't like how this day is shaping up.

Update:  Back from the vet. We are treating "symptomatically", as the diagnostics for Koda would cost more than mine!  He now has industrial-strength steroids (Dexamethasone) to take over the next two weeks.  If his symptoms are caused by swelling resulting from the fall, this should clear them up.

I'm cautiously optimistic, which is a big improvement.

Racist Cookies

Oreos were my favorite cookie when I was growing up.  Being a touch OCD, I would eat them three at a time, so the three rows in the bag would always be even.

As I got older, I learned that "Oreo" had a connotation other that a tasty, creme filled cookie.  It also referred to a black person who was really "white" on the inside.  Dr. Benjamin Carson, Mayor Mia Love, Sen. Tim Scott, (C), S.C., and Allan West, to name just a few.  (I suspect  that Dr. Martin Luther King would be on the list, if he were alive a preaching what he preached in the 60s).  Don King, Karl Malone, Harriet Tubman,and the Rock are all mentioned in a HuffPo article as being Republicans (as was Dr. King.)

This, however, is not a label that would apply to our President.  Yes, he may be a half-and-half kind of guy, but is innermost self is definitely not white.  Which brings me to what I found in the local Giant on my last trip out:

Pink filled Oreos.  As you can see, there is a "plain vanilla" Oreo, for those of us who are white both on the inside and the outside.  There was also a double-decker - cookie, vanilla filling, cookie, chocolate filling, cookie.  A more appropriate symbol for our president's ethnicity, I suppose. But the pink filling hit the spot, in a way that the term "red diaper baby"was applied to children raised in the U.S. by Communists.  So, we have a pink Oreo president.

Is anyone surprised?

He's Back...

...with A Demon's Nest of Sentiments

I can see Obama doing the Hokey-Pokey with the Girl Scouts.  But not Michelle - she's be on the sidelines, rolling her eyes and giving him The Look.

A Demon's Nest of Sentiments

Brooke McEldowney has been on quite the roll off and on the past few Sundays.  I have taken it upon myself to share:

 

Whilst you're at it, visit his blog and store, too!

And don't forget 9 Chickweed Lane!

When I was in college, our chief engineer and some of us students had arrived at a similar sentiment.  We decided that anyone who received a "no confidence" vote could never, ever run for office again.  For anything, anywhere.

Conversation With A Friend Updated: Instructional Video

This started out as an email to some friends about this scale-model B-17 that's about the size of a Cessna 140.

As it happens, our exchange makes for an interesting post (reversed to chronological order:)

On August 9, 2013 at 10:58 AM rob  wrote:

Which leads me to a question, do you have any current hobbies? I guess the blog keeps you busy, but do you do any traditional hobbies (e.g., model building, stamp collecting, wood working, sewing, book club, etc.)? What are you in to these days?

To: rob
Subject: RE: Here is something you can do in your spare time....

My first answer would be "computers", but that is fading some.  Much less of a need to stay up with the curve these days.  Before the back detonated, I was teaching some basic computer classes at the library.  I'll probably e-start those in a month or so.  I've been gardening - just picked about 2 gallons of tomatoes yesterday.  And, I'm catching up on my fun reading.  Read a book called "Jack 1939" by Francine Mathews.  She re-works JFK's summer before senior year trip to Europe to research his senior thesis in to quite the spy/adventure novel.  Discovered she writes as mumble Barrett, doing a series of mysteries with Jane Austin as the detective.

 

I start PT 2 - 3X next week, so that should be a boost in getting me back to some sort of regular physical activity.  (Somehow, without trying, I've dropped 40 pounds since my melanoma removal!  275 => 235)

 

I read the internet a lot.  And yes, I'm a little B.F. stir crazy.  Need to explore the countryside some more.  Also want to get a shooting range membership.  Did I tell you that I now own a Springfield Armory Stainless Steel 1911 .45, and a Hi-Point .45 ACP carbine.  I have shooting to do!!  One can get a permit to use the target ranges at some of the state hunting grounds, but between the back and the weather ("mostly overcast, chance of showers and thunder storms"), that's not happening.  Doc doesn't want any sudden jarring on my spine, and .45 ACP has a habit of doing that.  Especially, I think, coming out of the carbine.  Sigh.

 

Oh... and I'm working on a plan to overthrow the government.  It involves lobotomies for just about all current office holders, reduction of the number of Cabinet positions, and a return to basic free market principles.  For starters.

   

How you two doing?? 

 On August 10, 2013 at 11:13 AM rob wrote:

It's really interesting to hear what you are up to. I'm still into programming and actually doing much more of it than I was at Boeing, where management is less about management and more about brown-nosing. Carole is still keeping her hand in real estate, but backing out slowly. Her daughter and her partner just had twins so Carole is getting more into that.
 
I admire your willingness to teach at the library. I just don't have the patience to teach, but I keep thinking that I should find something I could at least volunteer at.

After your PT is done we should talk. Your congressional lobotomy idea could fit into the killer robot idea that I'm working on. I was going to use a death ray in my robot but a lobotomy ray might be more humane after all.  (Let's see, we've mentioned death, killer, congress and guns. If the word "al-qaeda" shows up in this email it's bound to be picked up by the NSA.)

Deny everything.

My response this morning:

Dude, congress was just a start.

 

I think we could get by with a cabinet of DOD, DOJ, State, Transportation, and maybe Interior.  Make the idiots at TSA US Marshals, (real ones, with training and everything), put a couple on each flight originating in the US, one ICE agent every 1/4 mile along the Mexican border, w/ air and mechanized support.

 

Lots of training input from the Israelis.  In Costa Rica, *ALL* bags are searched, in front of you, before they can be checked in.

 

Oh, and listen when the Russians have something to say about potential terrorist activity, and follow up on it. 

Saw two Warthogs fly over this morning.  No big booms, so I guess everything was OK,

He responded:

Now you've done it. Expect to get audited next April.

And then, Mr Bingely takes the proverbial cake with this instructional video!

I Am Now Free To Roam About The Planet! Updated!

Update - moving this thread to the Window on Red Lion blog.  Too much crazy shit going on to mix my health issues in with 'em.

Well, that was fun...

I was released from the therapy hospital last Wednesday, and stopped off to see the surgeon on the way home.  He pulled some of the staples, and I have another appointment next Wednesday for the rest of them.  Healing well, take it easy, no strain, etc, etc, etc.

So, why 2 weeks instead of 2 - 3 days??  I'll tell ya.

Apparently, Oxycodone and I do not get along.  As you know, I went to college during the late 60s and early 70s.  The oxy took me to places that were a) weirder, b) not really fun, and c) where I have no wish to return.  It also (apparently) caused my bladder to go off line, so I got to get yet another catheter.  I slept most of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, sleeping and detoxing in a military-industrial Alice in Wonderland sort of world.  Seemingly very real, so when I awoke, I would have to remind myself that none of it could have happened, because I was in a hospital room, and had been for a few days.

I got transferred to a rehab hospital for physical and occupational therapies.  The night before I left (Monday) as I was taking my evening constitutional around the nurses' station, I saw two people in wheel chairs w/ IVs, and heard someone in the room next to me discussing how people are treated with dignity after death.  I then saw the two people in wheel chairs, and one in a hospital bed being moved out.  I have a feeling that there was some donor/transplant stuff going on.  Next morning, I awoke to a conversation amongst several women just outside my door.  It seemed to be about the three individuals, but it had the tone and quality of a Seal Team debriefing.  Someone said three words, someone else responded with three words, done.

I wondered a) if they had rappelled into the OR from a Black Hawk, b) if they knew I was in the next room hearing all of this, and c) what my current life expectancy was due to b.

Obviously, I hadn't completely dried out.

Rehab was mostly about making sure I could do things like manage stairs, do all of the things one needs to do in a bathroom, cook, do laundry, and some basic strength and stretch work, within the limited weight and motion restrictions I'm under.  And walking.  Lots of walking.

So.  I seem to be healing up nicely.  I've over done a bit here, since I left the house thinking I'd be back in 2 - 3 days, not two weeks.  Laundry is done, dishwasher emptied and partially re-loaded.  Not expecting company, so not worried about the rest of it.

I'm rejoicing in an almost complete lack of pain for the first time in almost 40 years!  The incision itches, the back muscles are sore and achy, but I can walk unaided (I use a cane for assist in balance when necessary, or going up and down stairs).  Took the dogs for a walk yesterday, first time in ages (don't ask).

I'm scheduled for out-patient PT starting next week.  I have a feeling that this will more about strength, endurance, and range of motion.  I tire easily, and that's a bit frustrating.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers and good wishes and thoughts for me.  I know that has supported me through this "interesting" time.

I am comfortable, all news is good, and I'm figuring out how I want to live in a house with a basement and three stories.

Thank you all.  Blessings upon you and those you hold dear!

Mr. McEldowney's Editorial

I have been reading Brooke McEldowney's 9 Chickweed Lane and Pibgorn for years, now, and have even had an e-mail conversation with him.  I love his art, I especially love his story telling, the range of human experience he manages to capture, from the sensual interplay of relationships to the embarrassment of drooling (temporary) idiocy.  I especially love his wry use of language.  No one I know writes like him.

Today, on his gocomics.com Pibgorn page, he posted what I believe is his first editorial:

As I wrote to him, I believe we are poised for the second step.

Question...

...if you were upset by Michael Vics, how are you feeling about Kermit Gosnell, and why?

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Found at the ever-suave Mr. Green's Vodkapundit over at PJM.

Go and read.

Meanwhile, over at Gerard's:

Profound Congratulations...

...to Jewel.

The Easter Vigil: I have at last crossed the Tiber

 

The oil of peace and certainty has now mingled well with the chrism of joy. It is one of the best fragrances you can ever smell.  It’s past 1:30 in the morning, and the perfume is still wafting through my nose.

Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ was my First Supper.

I cannot find the words right now to describe how I am feeling.

Easter blessings and joy to you all on this Day of Christ’s Resurrection.

The die is cast!

Washing Cats...

...and four year olds.

Got this link from one of my Boeing friends:  

 Oakland Cat Stuck in Washer, Survives Cycle 

...which started a small, dark e-mail thread:

 I replied:

When I first got Shin-wa, he was very interested in the dishwasher.  He would hop in and poke around.  I was afraid of locking him in for a cycle, so, one day, when I had it open and empty, he happened to hop in.  I shut the door, and 'bumped' the lever that locked and started the machine, just enough for it to make the noise it did.

 

I opened the door.  Shin-wa stood rock still, blinked twice, and popped out, never to enter the machine again. 

Shin-wa, the Quick Learner

 One of my other friend replied to the original:

Sounds like something that could catch on. Since it works with cats, why not difficult to clean 4-yr-olds, too.

...to which I replied:

Rob - four-year-olds are generally too big for a top loading machine.  If you have a front loader, it might work, depending on the size of said four-year-old.

 

I preferred to strap them to the top of the car and take it and them through the car wash.  Of course, you have to flip 'em and go thru again, which is why I used the automated self-service washes.

 

It was easier when I had the old Subaru "Brat".  It was a small pick-up with seats in the back.  Made it much easier...

More as it breaks.

The New Revolutionary War

The ever-suave and lucid Steven Green has a post up about Michael Cannon's article in the LA Times.  The gist is, many states are not implementing the exchange infrastructure required to make Obamacare "work" (sorry).  He posits that this will make the true costs of the monstrosity visible  to all, causing massive sales in torches, pitchforks, rails, tar and feathers.  (OK, he didn't say the part about increased sales.  But it's a happy dream... .)

Vodkapundit doesn't think this has much of a chance.

This all got me to thinking (uh-oh), which started to coagulate what's been ricocheting around my cranium since the election.  Here's my comment:

"I've been contemplating may navel since the election, and I'm coming to the conclusion that the only way to stop this frikkin' nightmare is to fight and beat it at the state level.  (And by "frikkin' nightmare", I mean the whole greedy, bloated Federal Government!)

State laws prohibiting state enforcement of Federal mandates.

Lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits.

States, start to wean yourself off the Federal dime.  Keep your own tax money.  Don't send any money to Washington.  Pay for your own schools and roads.

Keep as much activity and business in-state as you can, to circumvent the commerce clause.

Make yourself business-friendly.  Low taxes, right-to-work.  Train literate and numerate workers - teach them reading. writing, arithmetic, history and computers; art, literature.  Yeah, world art & lit, but make sure there's a solid foundation in American and Western history, lit and art.  Give the kids their heritage, not someone else's.

It doesn't have to be a shooting war, but it is a war."

If we aren't going to start a shooting war, which, I think, is a really bad idea, we need to entrench and start resisting through the "system" at the state level.

But we must fight back, because it is a war.

Like I said...

"...God, family, friends, country."